S&P 500, Dow end lower with energy, financials; Tesla falls

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow ended down slightly on Thursday as gains in Apple (AAPL.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) were offset by losses in energy and financial shares.

Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) shares also fell to a two-day low and wiped out all of the gains fueled by Chief Executive Elon Musk’s recent tweet announcing a plan to take the company private. The stock ended down 4.8 percent.

The S&P 500 was in slightly positive territory most of the day, putting it once again close to the record high it hit Jan. 26. The Nasdaq also neared its all-time high.

The technology sector has been at the center of a sharp recovery in U.S. stocks since a market rout in February.

Shares of Apple rose 0.8 percent, while those of Amazon (AMZN.O) were up 0.6 percent.

“It’s hard pressed for this market to really leap ahead. It’s been a slow, steady climb, led by an increasingly smaller number of companies,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.

“Somehow, technology seems a little more insulated” to concerns facing some companies, including trade war tensions, Meckler added.

Leading sector declines was the S&P energy index .SPNY, which fell 0.9 percent. Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) fell 4.2 percent after it maintained a tepid production forecast for the year. The S&P financial index .SPSY was down 0.6 percent.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 74.52 points, or 0.29 percent, to 25,509.23, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.12 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,853.58 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 3.46 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,891.78.

The biggest drag on the S&P 500 was Booking Holdings (BKNG.O), which fell 5 percent after it forecast third-quarter profit below expectations.